Tom has over 25 years of experience as an executive in various commercial, strategic and R&D leadership positions at global pharmaceutical companies in Europe and in the USA, where he lived most of his career. Prior to joining VISUfarma as Chief Executive Officer in 2016, Tom was President of Novaer in New Jersey (USA), which he founded in 2012 to develop a sustained drug delivery implant for glaucoma treatment. In 2005, Tom founded Aerie Pharmaceuticals and was the company’s President and CEO through its subsequent IPO in 2013, having raised $74 million of venture capital funding since its inception. During that time, he built the company in New Jersey (USA) with R&D capabilities in North Carolina (USA), and led the successful discovery and development of a proprietary pharmaceutical products portfolio with a novel MOA for the treatment of glaucoma, now in late Phase III development. At Pfizer, he managed the successful divestiture of the surgical ophthalmology franchise as VP of Global Operations. Before that, at Pharmacia, he was Vice-President leading commercial development of the specialty care portfolio, including ophthalmology products such as billion-dollar glaucoma blockbuster Xalatan. Tom led European marketing of cardiovascular products at Merck as part of a multi-billion franchise, achieving several years annual double-digit growth. Aside from his executive roles, Tom is also an experienced private investor, board director and advisor to venture capital and private equity firms. Tom qualified as a medical doctor at the University of Amsterdam and continued his business education at the NIMA Institute. A native Dutch speaker, Tom is fluent in English and German and is conversational in French.

 Opthamological research